Every year from November to May, Hawaii hosts some unusually distinguished guests, the humpback whales, who leave their summer home in the Gulf of Alaska to winter in the warm waters off Hawaii. Between 500 to 800 whales congregate in the large shallow basin formed by the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe, an area called, appropriately enough, the "bedroom of the whales," because it is here that they mate and give birth to their young. Except for those migrating through...

JUNEAU, Alaska — Capt. Jack Cadigan didn't promise we would see a fascinating process known as "bubble-net feeding" while on a 31/2-hour whale watch off Juneau. I hadn't ever seen a whole whale in the wild, so just spying one would do. We left Auke Bay about 8 a.m. on a twin-engine boat with an observation hull. And not only did we soon spot whales; we were about to see the ingenious team feeding. Humpback whales have no teeth. Instead, they have hundreds of...

Less than a half-hour out on the deep waters of Monterey Bay, Calif., 12- year-old Becky Nagle is slumped on a bench, her head resting on a stranger's backpack. Snoozing. "I can`t tell if she's not feeling well or if the pill kicked in," says her mother, Virginia, who gave all three of her children anti-seasick medication before embarking on this six-hour whale-watching cruise. "She's missing everything." Well, not quite. She was alert during the first...

The "San Francisco Visitors Planning Guide" suggests what to see in Golden Gate Park and offers advice on wine touring in northern California. (415-391-2000; www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com) ... December-through-April is whale-watching season in central California, according to the new "San Luis Obispo County -- An Insider's Guide to California's Natural Escape." (800-634-1414; www.sanluisobispocounty.com) ---------- Prices generally are per person double and based on availability.

For general information on the King Range National Conservation Area: Contact the district office, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 555 Leslie St., Ukiah, Calif. 95482; 707-462-3873. For whale-watching, private charters are available through King Salmon Charters, 3458 Utah St., Eureka, Calif. 95501; 707-442-3474.

Some roads are worth driving solely for the sake of driving them. Pacific Coast Highway, for one, lures road warriors to cruise its curves, braving skinny lanes painted along cliffs for glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. Though less treacherous, what remains of Route 66 won't get you anywhere fast, but it will get you from Chicago to Los Angeles while satisfying your hunger for nostalgia. Baja California's Mexican Federal Highway 1 is such a road. Dubbed the Carretera Transpeninsular (Transpeninsular Highway)

The "San Francisco Visitors Planning Guide" suggests what to see in Golden Gate Park and pours forth advice on wine touring in northern California. (415-391-2000; www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com) . . . December-through-April is whale-watching season in central California, according to the new "San Luis Obispo County -- An Insider's Guide to California's Natural Escape." (800-634-1414; www.sanluisobispocounty.com)

People flock to Maui for rest and relaxation, but humpback whales migrate to the warm island waters to mate and calve. These leviathans, up to 45 feet in length, can be viewed from Maui's shoreline between mid-December and mid-April. Timed to coincide with the finale of whale-watching season, Napili Kai Beach Resort is offering a "Whale Watcher's Special" with a fifth night free after four consecutive paid nights. For instance, five nights in an ocean-view studio are priced at $1,140, the...

One sunny afternoon recently, 110 people wearing shorts and sunscreen and carrying cameras paid $14 each for a seat on the Dolphin VII and motored about 20 miles offshore to watch whales. At the first sign of life (two humpbacks named Alphorn and Spear, looming out of the green ocean just off the starboard bow), they whooped. They leaped onto the benches, having forgotten the crew's warning only minutes earlier that it was strictly prohibited. The less demonstrative sighed audibly.

Big pregnancies of 2006: Bradgelina. TomKat. And the biggest of them all--at 1,500 pounds--Puiji. The beluga whale, one of six at the Shedd Aquarium, is about 10 months' pregnant with her second calf. The father is a 20-year-old, 1,800-pound specimen named Naluark. "It's exciting," said Roger Germann, the Shedd's public relations director. "It shows us the cycle of life and helps bring a connection with visitors." The calf will be born this summer, in a part of the whale habitat partitioned off for...

Whale-watching doesn't end at California's state borders: Opportunities abound from Oregon up through Alaska and south into Mexico. To the north, experienced whale-watching cruise boats operate from ports along the Pacific coast of Oregon and Washington, around the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound near Seattle, and various locations in British Columbia and Alaska. To the south, tours center on the gray whale breeding grounds of Baja California and the teeming waters of the Sea of Cortez.

A 28-foot humpback whale washed up dead in Peril Strait near Sitka last weekend with wounds that suggest a ship smashed into its head, according to scientists who examined the carcass. A necropsy found extensive hemorrhaging and bleeding along the whale's right jaw, said Dr. Carrie Goertz, a vet with Alaska SeaLife Center, who led a team of vets at the scene. Other wounds appeared in muscles behind its head. The whale had been dead about a week. "It looked like there had been...

Whale watching Gray whales will soon begin their annual migration from Alaska's Bering Sea to the California coastline, which is why whale-watching is so popular in Santa Cruz between January and March. The migrating whales pass through the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and can be seen with binoculars from the coastal bluffs of Davenport. Whale-watching tours also depart regularly from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz Harbor and Moss Landing...

Whale watching Gray whales will soon begin their annual migration from Alaska's Bering Sea to the California coastline, which is why whale-watching is so popular in Santa Cruz between January and March. The migrating whales pass through the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and can be seen with binoculars from the coastal bluffs of Davenport. Whale-watching tours also depart regularly from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz Harbor and Moss Landing...

The bow of the Oceanic Society's chartered Ranger85 rose and fell as powerful twin diesels pushed it through the gray Pacific swells of a cool overcast September morning. We were on a daylong whale-watching and natural history cruise to the Farallon Islands, isolated granite outcroppings 25 miles outside San Francisco's Golden Gate and home to one of the most diverse displays of marine life in North America. Whale-watching in California is a year-round activity enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of residents...

For protesters here to block the Makah tribe's first whale hunt in 70 years, their vigil has been a tense waiting game, with panic ignited each time a false report of a kill crackles over the marine radio. The false alarms are costly. The protesters burn expensive fuel, rattle themselves silly over choppy seas and whip themselves frantic for nothing. The days wear on, the cost piles up and patience wears thin. "That's the idea," said whaler Donnie Swan with a...

A 28-foot humpback whale washed up dead in Peril Strait near Sitka last weekend with wounds that suggest a ship smashed into its head, according to scientists who examined the carcass. A necropsy found extensive hemorrhaging and bleeding along the whale's right jaw, said Dr. Carrie Goertz, a vet with Alaska SeaLife Center, who led a team of vets at the scene. Other wounds appeared in muscles behind its head. The whale had been dead about a week. "It looked like there had been...

A whale-watch boat that had been showing the mammals to hundreds of passengers struck and killed a whale. The vessel was returning to Barnstable Harbor on Saturday when it collided with the 20-foot minke whale. Minkes are not a protected species. Passengers said the whale's body was bloody when it emerged in the boat's wake. Josef Treggor, a marine-science researcher who was at the bow, said the whale came up so suddenly that there was no way to avoid it. He is...